(for Jerry Friesen)
_________
"The runner"
Long as the slope feels right and a stride can bite
& a tail-wind's favourable,
with spring hostas and grass along the way(& love of sky
going dearly before),
then I can run!—
& even as the thunderhead's
snarly fifes take over lakes
& the cars' brash ferocities, too, nose round me
at every mile,
still there's breath that means to go on
and the road ahead
-(same long sun-loving one) -
spun to entice him
'cause added to it,
at every mile, is likewise a drama too
of aspen shades and even a Lady,
to salute me in the rain, wind;
or moles in a winding ditch;
or leaf hoppers startled
to their knees;
or teens, all teeth & gauche hate,
waiting just for me,
a roving Aeneas, alone in the world, a warm body on legs
who’s laughed at in spades
For the day's the same, howso'er it meet with steep slopes,
and dandelion yards,
and a runner with eyes for a dear blue sky,
who'll gladly turn home
when the tall winds die
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